Quilt

The deep red velvet border of this quilt seems barely able to contain all the texture, color, and shape found within it. The eye moves across its surface looking for a pattern or a place to rest, but is left wanting. The fans at the corners, common motifs in crazy quilts that reference their oriental inspiration, help to frame the work but as one looks closer they find a bewildering array of images—flowers, ducks, moths, a spider web, a child holding a bonnet beside an overgrown butterfly. While some of the imagery is purely fanciful, some motifs carry symbolic meaning. In the Victorian-era’s language of flowers, pansies could mean remembrance and daisies could represent innocence. The spider web was sometimes associated with notions of good luck and prosperity in Asian culture, but also invites a comparison between the quilter, building a fantastical environment out of thread, and the spider spinning her web. The identity of the maker, Mary Louise Fuller, is suggested by the large “F” embroidered at the center of the quilt.